Angelsitting
by Nualie
Summary: Gabriel is babysitting Lucifer. Lucifer is a mischievous kid. Panic ensues. (Beware of spoilers for the 15th light novel)


**Recently, I got back into this series, and so much happened that i just had to write something "cute" about it.**

 **I'm cross-posting this one on AO3, by the way. I won't do it with all my works, though, so if you want to read more stuff from me, you'll have to look for "Nualie" there.**

 **Spoilers if you haven't read the 15th light novel..!**

 **Enjoy~**

 **(The translated novels are relatively easily findable if you care to look~)**

 **Special thanks to pika318 for checking for continuity errors!**

* * *

Having a child around took some getting used to.

They had been quite isolated from the general population, ever since they had started their quest for the pandemic's cure, and it had only become worse since then.

In other words, it could be said that, in the few years they had been stuck on the moon, far from their home planet's orbit, they had only interacted between adults. Lucifer changed that, especially once they left the planet's orbit; things had settled down properly and they all realized that they'd have to care for a small child.

They had had to find a way to make baby clothes, secure all the angles of the station so that the child wouldn't get hurt, and there had been a collective panic purely from the fact that something so strange was happening. Thankfully, there were people like Lailah who were a little more used to dealing with children's health and behaviour, so they weren't _too_ worried, and it hadn't been a complete disaster, yet.

Yet.

The parents weren't the only ones tasked with looking after the child. It was natural that they deserved a break sometimes. In fact, Lailah forced them to take sanity breaks.

Gabriel had little experience with handling young children in general, but he was mostly confident that he could make sure a toddler remained in his room without getting hurt for a few hours. Besides, he'd babysitted his cousins in his teenage years- it had been a while, but he did have more experience than most of the others.

The baby-proofed station was fairly safe, as a whole, and the child's bedroom even more so. It shouldn't be hard to look after Lucifer while Ignora and Sataniel enjoyed some me time.

The first half hour had gone great, because Lucifer was asleep. Gabriel was rereading a book. After a few years without direct contact with the planet, they were starting to run out of entertainment material. He hoped they could return one day, but there was little hope that their planet's governments would magically stop lusting after immortality.

Then, after about half an hour, remembering his babysitter duties, he took his eyes off his book and glanced at the toddler's bed.

The toddler's empty bed.

Gabriel's blood ran cold in his veins.

He set down his book with more force than was necessary, and he scanned the room for a small figure. No such being was immediately apparent, and he felt sweat run down his back as he imagined all the terrible things a toddler could get himself into. There weren't actually as many as his fear implied, but the dull routine of the station tended to amplify the stress caused by little disturbances, and having a child missing for thirty seconds seemed to be a dire situation.

He kneeled to the ground and checked under the bed, hoping with all his heart that he would find a youthful, mischievous face; but all he found was dust.

He checked under the table and cupboards for good measure. Nothing. The sweat rolling down his back was frigid. From concerned he had now become fearful. Where had Lucifer ran off to?

"Lucifer," he called out, "it's not funny anymore."

No answer. The door was closed, though, and there was no window. It was unlikely that Lucifer had managed to escape out in the corridor. Gabriel would have seen the door opening and closing. Unless... the vents?

He whipped towards them. No, they were too small even for a small child, and besides, they were sealed. Lucifer had to be hiding within the room. Maybe he could bait him out of hiding. How had he talked to his little cousins, again?

"Lucifer," he called out again, "if you don't come out, Mama and Papa are going to be mad at me."

He had no idea how Lucifer called his parents, but that was a good bet. He thought he heard a childish giggle. Unfortunately, he was unable to pinpoint where it was coming from. It was encouraging, though. He kept talking, using a fake angry tone.

"Do you want Mama and Papa to be mad at Gabriel? Is that it?"

Another giggle, hastily stifled. It had come from...

Above?

Gabriel directed his gaze upwards. On top of the cupboard, curled with tiny, fluffy white wings sprouting from his back, was Lucifer. He was grinning very wide, and laughed again when his eyes met Gabriel's. "You find me," he pouted, but he seemed pleased by his prank anyway.

"There you are." Gabriel sighed in relief, tension bleeding out of him. Thankfully, he was tall enough to reach Lucifer without using a chair. The kid let himself down into his arms, visibly trying not to burst out in laughter. "Such a mischievous child, uh."

"You shoulda looked into a mirror," Lucifer babbled happily, "You were all, like, panicky." He gestured wildly, as if to show how big his panic had been, or how funny it had looked, and Gabriel almost dropped him.

He managed to set him back onto the bed safely. Lucifer let himself fall on his back with a little _oof_.

"Shouldn't you go back to sleep? It's still early," Gabriel noted.

Lucifer huffed. "I don't wanna nap. I'm bored. Play with me," he commanded, straightening his short stature.

Reflexively, Gabriel almost suggested that Lucifer play with his friends instead, like he used to with his little cousins, when it hit him.

Lucifer had no friends, because he was the only child of the institute. There was no nursery where he could play together with other children. He had never toddled around in a park with other kids, or even used a stroller, or...

Lucifer was going to have a completely different life compared to what Gabriel or any adult around had known. Now he felt a little bad for him. Lucifer was too young to really realise it, but that wouldn't last very long. Since this was a child without a playmate, shouldn't he indulge him?

"Alright. What do you want to play?"

* * *

Ignora opened the door to Lucifer's room, expecting a sleeping child and a bored Gabriel. Instead, she found the former head of security being used as a steed for a small tyrant.

"Oh, Ignora." He looked embarrassed, and she couldn't help but smile at the scene. "Welcome back."

Go figure.


End file.
